Hayward Unified School District (HUSD) held its First Annual HUSD Spelling Bee at the elementary and middle school levels on Saturday, Feb. 9.

The elementary school division of the spelling bee included grades 4-6. Six students were given awards for completing the competition and placing in the top six. Zachary Lopez (Southgate) was awarded First Place, Jessica Ortiz (Park) won second and Alyssa Salgado (Longwood) received third, all of whom are in 6th grade. Fourth place was awarded to Nathan Yu, 5th grader at Palma Ceia, Fifth Place was given to Joseph Chou, a 5th grader at East Avenue, and Sixth Place was awarded to Paulo Herce, a 6th grade student at Ruus Elementary.

The HUSD Spelling Bee had seven winners at the middle school level. First Place winner Binh Phan, a 7th grader at Winton, Second Place winner Chris Stegall, 8th grade student at Faith Ringgold School of Arts and Science, Third Place winner Julie Kwon, a 7th grade student at Bret Harte, Fourth Place winner Julie Nguyen, a 7th grader at Winton, Fifth Place winner Alex Ochoa, a 7th grade student at Winton, and Sixth Place winner Jessie Rodriguez, also a 7th grade student at Winton were excited to be award recipients.

The seven middle school winners will represent HUSD at the Alameda County Spelling Bee held at California State University East Bay (CSUEB) on Saturday, March 15.

Additional assistance and support was provided by HUSD's District Representative, Sharon Ough (Area Administrator) and David Warken (Principal, Markham School). The HUSD First Annual Spelling Bee was sponsored by the HUSD Gifted and Talented Education Department (Gurbakhash Bittikofer, District Coordinator and Betty Price, Clerical Assistant).

For more information, call Nathalie Longree-Guevara at (510) 670-7735, or email nguevara@acoe.org.